romaniafan brings us his own sightings! • Yes, ROMANIA! Was at the arrivals area at the airport in Bucharest last night, at about 12:45am, waiting for a friend to come through baggage claim. Suddenly a man with a large videocamera appeared out of nowhere and stood waiting in front of the crowd at the automatic doors. I wondered if it would be someone important, but figured just a local soccer celebrity or something. A few seconds later an Asian couple with backpacks came running through the doors. They seemed to be looking for something and very rushed, and the cameraman followed them as they ran behind me and out the doors to the outside world. My very first thought was AMAZING RACE?!?! And then when I heard them talking to each other in English as they passed, with American accents, I thought it was an even greater chance it had been AR . . . but sadly, I'd never know the truth.Or would I?!? Few minutes later two girls, looked to be in their 20s, came running out shouting at the crowd asking where the taxis were. Then suddenly they both stopped, looked around very confused-like like they were looking for someone, then stood off to the side a bit, literally about two feet from me. I noticed right away that they both had little yellow and red-striped markers on them, so I was getting even more convinced this was AR. Then while they were waiting, one of them took out an envelope and pulled out of it a blue pamphlet-sized type thing that had the AR symbol on the front, consulted it really quickly, then tucked it away. Now I'm 100% convinced it's AR!! All of a sudden there was a huge flurry of activity as their camerman came running up (apparently that's what the two girls had been waiting for), and then I saw at least two other teams and their camera crews come running through the doors - one was two slightly older African American ladies, and another was two rather short men. All four of them also had the yellow and red markers on their person (some were on fanny packs), and were being chased by cameras as they frantically ran for the taxis. I *think* there was another team arriving a little further down, but I couldn't get a good look in all the excitement. Then last but not least, a very frantic-looking cameraman and sound man ran out in the clearing outside the automatic doors, apparently having lost their team for the moment, and paused scanning the crowd for a good minute or two. Then they took off, so presumably spotted them. Phew.It gets better. About a half hour later my friend finally came through the double-doors from baggage claim. I was giddy with excitment to tell her about my AR spotting, and her response? "So THAT'S who they were!!" Apparently they were on her flight from Munich! At least some of them were. She was sitting right next to one of the contestants, my friend said she was a Kelly Ripa lookalike. This contestant had another friend sitting up a few rows, who she kept referring to as Chrissy. My friend said they made small talk throughout the flight, and the lady had said she and her friend were making a travel documentary, going to places off the beaten path like Romania to try and generate interest for tourists to go to those countries. So THAT'S their cover! The lady also told the flight attendant that she and her friend Chrissy are Southwest Airlines flight attendants back home. She was also asking a Romanian passenger on the other side of her for advice, my friend didn't catch all of it but did hear them talking about the train station (how to get there, safety, etc). My friend said after the fact, knowing it was an AR team, a lot of the lady's mysterious behavior now made sense: Spending half an hour putting on makeup before they landed (after midnight?!?), asking the flight attendant for an extra sandwich (Chrissy had told her they might need it tomorrow!), etc. My friend said that by the time the plane was ready to deboard, the Kelly Ripa lookalike and her friend Chrissy (and their telltale backpacks) had already worked themselves up to the front of the plane to deboard. She said she also had noticed one other team of two girls with backpacks and camera crews, which I suspect *may* have been the pair I saw stalled outside baggage claim, but not sure.Soooo, long and short of it: At least two teams were for sure spotted by my friend on the flight from Munich to Bucharest; I spotted at least four teams coming thru baggage claim at about that time, one of which might have overlapped with the ones my friend spotted. They were heading for taxis, so not sure if that means a task in Bucharest, or if they were taxing to the train station to venture elsewhere in the country. Making it at least five or six teams here in Romania today! How exciting!! I live not far from Dracula's Castle, which I'd suspect will be one of their stops, so I'll be keeping an eye out for any more sightings!Sorry for the ramble, but I've been a huge AR fan since Season 1, Episode 1, and all this time I've been really pulling for them to come to Romania - what are the odds I'd see them arriving at the airport here, especially at 12:45am on a Wednesday?!? Can't wait for this season to air!!

• Friend was on Lufthansa flight 3424, arrived about 12:25am 11/5 from Munich. The flight arriving right before that was from Frankfort, arriving at 12:15am - both from Germany, so possibly some of the teams I saw had been on that flight? Not sure. Just because my friend only spotted two teams on the Munich flight doesn't mean they weren't all on that flight and she just didn't see them. She's still in bed and jet-lagged right now (she'd flown all the way from LA), but I'll grill her for more info later and see if there's any other tidbits I can report. This is all so exciting, I'm glad I've got people to share it with who can appreciate it!

• Yeah, it was 12:25am on Wed Nov 5th that they landed. So I'd bet money on them still flitting around the country as we speak, especially taking into account that like you said, they probably needed to wait for things to open first. It's 11:20am here at the moment, and we're 8 hours ahead of Chicago time (that's my hometown and point of reference!). And yes, I said finally because a. I'd left for the airport three hours before, b. Knew we'd have a 2+ hour drive home, and c. I wanted to talk to somebody about my AR sightings!!! In a perfect world my friend would've come through the doors at the same time as them and we could've tailed them! I guess it pays to travel with backpacks and not have to wait 20 minutes for your luggage to come through. • Speculation: If they go to Dracula's Castle (which incidentally isn't that exciting at all and is barely tied to Dracula, but is Romania's Biggest Tourist Trap so something tells me they'll end up there, but I hope I'm wrong - there are so many more interesting things to choose from here!), it's a good three hours drive/train from Bucharest in daytime traffic, a bit shorter at night. So if they had an early morning task in Bucharest, had to wait for opening hours for something first and then complete the task, then get out here, it'd probably be lunchtime at the earliest.

• Oh, remembered one last tidbit: One of the girls my friend saw was wearing a t-shirt with a picture of her daughter on it. I'll check back in tonight with any other newsworthy news!

• One last little tidbit: My friend said the racer sitting next to her on the plane had mentioned that others "from our group" had been on an earlier flight that day. Maybe these were just the stragglers? And as I may have already mentioned, she was wearing a t-shirt with a picture of her daughter that said "I love you wherever I go". Think that's it for now!

• Yay!! More dirt!! Thought the well had run dry on info from here in Romania, but just got this email from a friend here in Brasov:"So I sat next to a guy at the wedding yesterday who is a cop in brasov and was assigned as a driver to some of the supporting crew for the amazing race when it came through. from bucharest they had to take the train to brasov, and they went to the black church where they found out their road block. i don't remember what the first one was but the second was something to do with a gypsy village. he didn't know what else they did in brasov but from brasov they went to bran and he said he didn't think they went to Bran Castle but they did have their pit stop.in all he said they spent about 3 days in romania and from here they went to russia."

• At 4am on Wednesday morning, staying up all night in honor of the US Presidential Election, I found myself at Gara de Nord, Bucharest’s primary train station. Standing outside the locked building was a mix of travelers waiting with luggage, teenagers huffing from plastic bags, sanitation workers sweeping, and various hustlers trying to get money from the people who waited. I, myself, had to dodge a couple of leather-jacketed men who insisted they could put me on a bus to wherever I needed to go, Brasov by noon. Later I watched two nearby couples interact with a younger huffer, laughing uncomfortably as he half sang, half shouted something to them. Meanwhile, taxis kept pulling up periodically, and people with bags would try the locked glass doors without luck. Their attempts were understandable, though, because inside the glass doors were other travelers, miraculously inside the warm(er) building even though it was supposed to be closed until 4:30.These other travelers were, in fact, the cast and crew of the 14th season of The Amazing Race, filming their way through Romania. I looked inside and watched the teams of two flanked by cameramen and production staff. They all seemed unaware of the motley crowd outside those doors. They talked to each other, milled around, and consulted maps. One particular team of young women looked too manicured for such a contest at such an hour. At 4:20am, the ticket counters opened early for them; the crowd outside moved closer to the locked doors. Ten minutes later, the station’s McDonald’s franchise let the cast and crew inside while keeping the public, now allowed in the building, locked outside. Soon these contestants would be headed out of the capital in search of adventure!And for those of you who are fans of the show, the Romania episode will be full of classics: gymnasts, gypsies, and vampires. Through some connections of mine here, I found out that the cast travels to nearby Bran Castle, engages in a challenge that included coffins and stakes, and visits a gypsy village (possibly in search of a clue). Of course, some of it plays off of the cultural myths about Romania. There is no question that some Romanians are interested in selling vampire kitsch to spook-seeking tourists, regardless of the relative lack of native tradition actually concerning the monsters. Much of the rest of the population at least tolerates it. And The Amazing Race clearly aims to take advantage.But the show exploits more than the vampire legend. The most intriguing element of The Amazing Race episode in Romania relates to the gypsy village, which was, strangely, a fake. Constructed specially for the show in an area with a relatively low gypsy population, the artificial village was “populated” with ethnic Romanians dressed up in gypsy attire. Yes, even the supposed gypsies were impostors, as authentic as their costumes may have appeared. All this was done for the benefit of a reality television show. And tourism, of course.

Because most countries try to export a symbolic and friendly image of native culture that will lure tourists into spending strong currencies in a bid to purchase access to it all. Australia has promoted koalas, kangaroos, happy indigenous people, and blonds with surfboards leading a laid back life along the beach. Scotland pushes kilts, bagpipes, and Mel-Gibson-as-William-Wallace (not to mention all things whiskey). Romania is certainly not exempt from these kinds of campaigns, and the gypsy village proves just to what lengths people are willing to go. By dressing up ethnic Romanians as gypsy villagers, The Amazing Race and its Romanian collaborators are presenting an idealized image of gypsy culture, one meant to dazzle foreigners with exoticism. The reality is more fraught. Tensions toward and within the gypsy population in Romania remain strong; prejudices are performed daily in the most progressive communities; divides exist socially and within the government about how to work with this minority group. Debates flourish about how to even provide education for children in gypsy communities. The quaint, friendly, built-to-order gypsy village, with its cast of Romanians in gypsy costumes, couldn’t be more of an idealization of the situation here. It censors the poverty, the alienation, and even the violence that contribute to the gypsy reality in Romania, as well as elsewhere in Eastern Europe. Myself, I am unqualified to say anything truly meaningful regarding this subject. Except I can’t help but be intrigued by a reality show that not only employs cultural proxies and fakes, but helps to sell a glossy version of what makes up a country like Romania. For my money, I think showing the real Romania would make excellent television; but no, the producers want to keep the glue huffers locked outside and the gypsies lighter skinned. Maybe the danger is that if we, as viewers, saw the reality, we might lose interest in the contestants and the contest itself. After all, what’s amazing about it? People flying all over the world in competition for money? What’s amazing about that? Besides what it excludes.

•TEAMS TRAVEL TO TRANSYLVANIA WHERE THEY MUST SEARCH THROUGH BURIED COFFINS FOR THEIR NEXT CLUE, WHILE A FIRST PLACE TEAM FINDS THEMSELVES STARING DOWN ELIMINATION AFTER AN UNEXPECTED DETOUR, ON "THE AMAZING RACE," MARCH 1 ON CBS "I'm Not Wearing That Girls Leotard!" (Romania) - Teams scour the Transylvania countryside for buried coffins, while one of the Race's frontrunners finds themselves at the back of the pack when their plane makes an unexpected landing, on THE AMAZING RACE 14, Sunday, March 1 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

•The teams go to Romania and have to learn a gymnastic routine in order to advance. One team gets lost and doubts their decisions - catch all the action on the next Amazing Race Sundays on CBS!

•Teams scour the Transylvanian countryside for buried coffins outside of Dracula's castle and a first place team falls to the back of the pack when their plane is forced to make an unexpected landing.Timelines:

Funny title, though. Wonder who sounds the most likely to say it? Probably a guy. Though if it's another girl who says it, I can see it being LaKisha or (black) Jennifer. Hell, maybe (Southern) Jennifer could say it.

« Last Edit: February 11, 2009, 03:31:10 PM by Ashe »

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JamisonEleven teams race around the world for $1,000,000 on The Amazing Race 14! Sundays at 8/7 Central on CBS!

Some speculation on gypsies:We already know from Seriously that the camp is phony. I'll take an early guess that it will resemble a movie stereotype--more like this camp in From Russia with Love rather than the real-life camp pictured in this article. And the wagons will look more like English Vardos than any wagon you might actually see in Romania.Some additional reading: the people (as previously mentioned) will be fake gypsies, but if anybody wants to spot costumes there's a guide here (gypsy page here). An interesting sidebar about the (gabor) gypsies here.

There's a Roadblock clue along with the RI in Victor's hand; gymnastics has to be the RB.

The question is if it's at the beginning or at the end; teams landed in Bucharest in the early early morning, but they would be leaving the pit stop in the early morning, no? Unless we have an extended pitstop.

Remember in Phil's first EW blog he mentioned he had to referee some disputes at the mat? I have a feeling we'll see our first Dr. Phil intervention next week between Tammy & Victor. Remember Ronald & Christina? Why does it always occur with my Asian brothers and sisters?

There's a new olympic preparation center near Bucharest; the windows might be similar, but I can't say it's match yet. (you can see the 5 rings in the promo). As far as the gypsies go...assemble a vardo, maybe?

There's a new olympic preparation center near Bucharest; the windows might be similar, but I can't say it's match yet. (you can see the 5 rings in the promo). As far as the gypsies go...assemble a vardo, maybe?